To settle things once and for all, we took both on a romantic vacation, heading south from our Michigan office toward roads in southeast Kentucky that AUTOMOBILE editors have been tearing up since the tenure of our magazine’s founder, the late David E. Davis Jr. We already know both cars to be great long-distance companions. The ’Vette has clocked more than 26,000 miles zigzagging across the Midwest and East Coast, and the Jag has traveled from Los Angeles to Detroit, racking up more than 23,000 miles.

We haven’t seen a Chevy and a Jag nip at each other’s heels since the early 1960s, when the original Stingray competed with the beautiful E-type.

As we cross into Ohio, daily news editor Eric Weiner radios from the F-Type and advises prudence, “Let’s keep it at 9 mph over the speed limit.” I call back, “Sure.” Then I gun the Corvette in third gear and roar by him. There’s not much he can do about it. The F-Type, with its supercharged V-6, can make some moves, but the Corvette has two extra cylinders and 80 horsepower more, and it’s just a faster girl. A 2015 Jaguar F-Type R, with its 550-hp supercharged V-8, could deliver comparable performance to the Chevy, but it would cost $99,925, which is 650-hp Corvette Z06 money. As it is, our Four Seasons F-Type S, with options including a full leather interior and a sport package (bigger brakes, two-mode exhaust, sport seats), costs $24,515 more than our Corvette, which itself has bigger brakes (part of the Z51 package), magnetorheological dampers, and competition seats. The Jaguar V-6 manages only a small fuel-economy advantage over the ’Vette’s pushrod V-8. We’ve observed 21 mpg during our Four Seasons test in the F-Type versus 20 mpg in the Corvette.

The Jag makes the most of its assets, though. The supercharged engine responds instantly to throttle inputs, like a dog straining at its leash. Both cars have a sport exhaust mode, but the Jaguar is louder and more maniacal, playing a constant soundtrack of pops and snarls. When I tell a curious local at an Ohio gas station that a 3.0-liter V-6 is making all this racket, he replies with an incredulous and appreciative expletive.

This F-Type S also pairs a lot more luxury with its sportiness than the Chevy does. You’ve probably heard a lot about how nice the C7 Corvette’s interior is. The Jaguar snorts with disdain at such a notion, as if to say, “Yes, old chap, we’re sure that is genuine leather. And what an interesting shade of red you’ve chosen for your seats.” Materials, switchgear, and the way the panels fit together have all improved in the new Corvette but still don’t compare to a Jaguar. The Corvette’s cabin is also louder than the F-Type’s and has become more so in recent months, as worsening squeaks and rattles have joined wind and road noise.

That said, we’ve packed most of our gear in the Corvette, which boasts a precious 4 cubic feet more of cargo space than the F-Type. The Chevy is also easier to see out of and has more intuitive controls. We initially kept getting lost in the seven-speed manual gearbox, but after many months, we can guide the shift lever through its gates with smooth flicks of the wrist. Not the same for the F-Type’s automatic shifter, which we often put into neutral when we intend to be in drive.

Both cars are lookers. We’ve garnered more attention in them than in any Four Seasons car since we had an Audi R8 in 2008. On this journey through the Midwest, however, the Jaguar receives far more stares. At a McDonald’s in Kentucky, an employee walks right past the Corvette to ask how much the Jaguar costs and seems unfazed when we tell him it’s $92,575. “You’ve made my day,” he says, before going back to work.

Maybe the Corvette is insulted by the lack of attention it gets, because shortly thereafter, it throws a temper tantrum. When I step on the throttle in second gear to chase Weiner back onto the highway, the ’Vette coughs, slows, and finally stalls in the middle of rush-hour traffic. This is embarrassing. Worse, it’s not just an ill-timed fluke. The Corvette has spent the better part of a month in service bays over the past year with issues ranging from leaky rear differential seals to a passenger airbag recall. Most recently, it needed a tow to a dealership when it failed to start. The technicians replaced the fuel pump under warranty.

It seems that fix was more like a patch. I’m able to restart the car but am left staring at a check engine light, and OnStar remotely diagnoses a problem with the fuel-sending unit. Game over, it would seem. Or perhaps not. The navigation system says we’re less than two hours north of Bowling Green, Kentucky, home of Corvette manufacturing. If there’s any place where a Corvette can get a major repair in a jiffy, it’s there. I limp onto I-65 South and ease into the right lane. The F-Type, which had looped back to find its downed companion, hangs close as an escort, no doubt feeling schadenfreude. “You know the best thing about this F-Type?” gloats Weiner. “It’s never broken down.” The Jaguar hasn’t required a single warranty repair during its time with us.

The next morning, mechanics at Campbell Chevrolet in Bowling Green determine that their counterparts in Ann Arbor had replaced the fuel pump during our previous episode of fuel system failure but not the computer that controls it. In Michigan we had to wait a week for parts, but here the supply lines are considerably shorter. After only a few hours, our Corvette emerges from the service bay primped and ready to return to the party.

We pick up a winding thread of asphalt about an hour north of Bowling Green and follow it as long as the light holds. The Jaguar feels a bit more eager and more accessible. Its steering, still hydraulically assisted, feels sharper than the Corvette’s electric power setup, and its rear end rotates sooner in a corner. But the Corvette ultimately tolerates more bad behavior and even encourages it. The faster you go, the harder it sticks, daring you to stay on the gas. When you finally say uncle, the brakes stop the car with more authority than the Jaguar’s. As Weiner notes, “There’s something intense and brutal about the Corvette that makes me forgiving of its shortcomings.”

It’s true—we still love the Chevrolet Corvette despite its misbehavior. It is, no doubt, the superior driving machine, the one we’d choose for a day at the track or on a deserted back road. But these cars, which sell for luxury car prices, are not cheap dates for weekend trysts. We expect to be able to drive them every day, rain or shine. When it’s time to slog back to Michigan the next morning to finish this 1,200-mile courting ritual, I’m relieved to be in the Jaguar F-Type. It’s as beautiful as the Corvette and nearly as thrilling on a back road, and the rest of the time, it’s more comfortable, more carefully crafted, and—we can’t believe it either—more reliable. The Jaguar F-Type is a lovely, cultured girl whom we would be proud to drive home to Mother.

That said, no one yawns when a 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 arrives at the office. We unplug the vacuum lines that control the dual-mode exhaust so as to free every delicious crackle from the 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 (normally, the exhaust opens at idle and full throttle but closes under moderate rpm). Then we dump the heavy clutch, effortlessly roasting the 20-inch Goodyears.

Considering how obnoxious the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is, it garners a relatively muted reaction. Sure, car guys nod knowingly as we cruise through downtown Ann Arbor, but it's nothing like the mass euphoria one inspires driving, say, a Corvette Stingray. Eight years and four Transformers films since the fifth-gen Camaro debuted as a concept, folks are perhaps starting to tire of its styling. It probably doesn't help that, due to its unique aerodynamic needs, the ZL1 does not receive the new front fascia that graces other 2014 Camaros.

Oh, well, who needs an audience? We find the nearest highway entrance ramp and roar past 100 mph. The 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 would be forgiven for wanting only to go in straight lines, because it does that so thrillingly, yet it also handles like a world-class sports car. Camaro engineers couldn't dramatically cut weight -- that'll have to wait until the next generation moves to Cadillac's Alpha platform—but they've figured out how to manage the 4120-lbs. Magnetorheological dampers, standard equipment on the ZL1, deftly control body motions without breaking molars. The electrically assisted steering provides the perfect amount of weight and feedback; BMW could stand to learn from it.

Indeed, the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 displays a certain polish that makes it worth considering even as it ages. Curb appeal and horsepower supremacy can be fleeting—enjoy the moment, Hellcat—but the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 possesses another, more durable quality: competence.

Given the Internet era’s dearth of secrets, I didn’t expect any surprises when I wandered down to Chevy’s outpost at the far north end of the Javits Center at the 2013 New York Auto Show. But down in those doldrums, way in the back, an outrageous Camaro was dreamily spinning on a turntable. With carbon-ceramic brakes, near-slick tires, and the 7.0-liter V-8 from the outgoing Corvette Z06, it looked like a fanciful SEMA-style concept. I asked a Chevy person what I was looking at and he replied, “That’s the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28. We’re gonna build it.” I’m not sure I believed him.

There’s a slim argument that the 2014 Z/28 picks up the thread of the road-race specials of the late 1960s, but that first-generation car was defined by its high-revving, 302-cubic-inch engine. The new Z/28 also has a healthy free-spinning V-8, but this isn’t an SS with a Z06 engine dropped between the front struts. The LS7 isn’t really the main attraction here. As its $75,000 sticker price attests, the Z/28 aspires to greater feats than low elapsed times at the drag strip.

This, the new ne plus ultra of Camaros, is the most barbarically analog car on the street. It has the widest front tires on any production car, carbon-ceramic brakes that would stop a runaway Kenworth, and aerodynamic tuning that generates 150 pounds of downforce at 150 mph. And, oh yes, there’s that 505-hp, 7000-rpm Howitzer under the hood.

Chevy chose to debut its new toy in Birmingham, Alabama, where the weather is fine and the 2.4-mile road course at Barber Motorsports Park showcases chassis-tuning competence—or the lack thereof.

Alabama normally expects 60-degree highs in February, but the Z/28 arrived during a cold snap, with temperatures in the 30s. That weather inadvertently underscored the Z/28’s biggest on-road liability: its tires. I found myself going sideways up an on-ramp while merely trying to keep pace with our Chevy Tahoe photo vehicle.

The Z/28 wears Pirelli PZero Trofeo R tires, sized 305/30YR-19 at all four corners. (The car might cost a lot, but at least you can rotate the tires.) Pirelli says that the Trofeo R has a ten percent bigger contact patch than a merely superaggressive summer tire in the same size. Where did that ten percent come from? Fill in the blanks. No, literally—fill in any negative space with rubber, then carve out the barest facsimile of a tread pattern and you’ve got a Trofeo R.

Like a convicted murderer, the Trofeo R should be kept off the street. Pirelli barely even claims this is a street tire, characterizing the Trofeo R as a dry-track racing tire that you can drive to and from your favorite road course. Pavement that is wet or cold or not part of a racetrack is not exactly a high priority, as I learned on that on-ramp. I’m no tire engineer, but I suspect that when the temperature is below 40 degrees, you might get better traction by driving on the rims.

You’ll want to stay current on your AAA membership, as the Z/28 carries no tire-inflation kit, except in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, where state law requires one. (New Hampshire’s libertarian streak evidently doesn’t extend to the right to be stranded by the side of the road.)

When they’re in their element, warm and happy, these Pirellis grip with such adamant determination that they actually create a whole different problem—tire slippage. That’s when the tires dig in so hard that the rims spin but not the tires. Bill Wise, who tuned the chassis electronics (ABS, traction and stability control, and Performance Traction Management), was one of the engineers who perceived the slippage during testing. The solution was media-blasting the wheels to get a better seal at the bead.

Pair these supergooey tires with Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, and you have the ingredients for 1.5-g stops with no fade, ever. The 15.5-inch front rotors are gripped by six-piston calipers, and the 15.3-inch rear rotors use four-piston calipers. Fun facts: the Z/28’s front tires are wider than the rears on a Porsche 911 Carrera S, and its rear brakes are bigger than the fronts on a 911 GT3.

Of course, the Z/28 also weighs a lot more than a 911, which is why it requires such outsize hardware. General Motors shaved pounds here and there—48 pounds via the nineteen-inch forged wheels and ethereal Pirellis, 21 pounds through the carbon rotors, and about 10 pounds with the removal of sound deadening and insulation. (IT’S PRETTY LOUD IN THERE NOW!) The rear glass is 0.3-millimeter thinner, netting a weight reduction that almost equals four iPhones. The standard sound system includes a single lonely speaker to bleat out the seatbelt chimes and the thwock-thwock sound of the turn signals. You know a Camaro is serious about performance when it surrenders its ability to crank Mötley Crüe.

Even after all this fettling, the Z/28 still weighs more than 3800 pounds—3820 pounds, to be exact, unless you want air-conditioning and a six-speaker stereo, which adds $1150 to the price and 31 pounds to the curb weight. This is, after all, a Camaro, built on an inherently beefy platform that will surely enjoy a Cadillac-style diet on the next go-around. But for now, GM is limited to the swap-or-strip-out approach to weight loss.

Interestingly, the Z/28 retains a rear seat because the car is lighter with one than without. “The rear seat is part of the structure, so when you remove it you have to compensate with bracing,” says Al Oppenheiser, Camaro chief engineer. “You can easily end up with a car that’s heavier than it was when you started.” He’s not naming any names, Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca.

Speaking of Mustangs, the Camaro Z/28 beats all of them around GM’s Milford Road Course. It also beats all other Camaros. And the new Corvette Stingray. To give you an idea of the Z/28 chassis’ capabilities, a Mustang Shelby GT500 goes into Milford’s turn 1 at 158.5 mph. The Camaro Z/28 manages only 149.7 mph by the end of that straight, and yet it torches the GT500 by more than six seconds per lap.

I mentioned that the Z/28 foregoes the ZL1’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension. In its place is a system that the Camaro team seems even more excited about. It’s called DSSV, which stands for Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve, made by a company called Multimatic. Thus far, Multimatic DSSV has only shown up on race cars (for instance, in Formula 1) and the Aston Martin One-77. I thought magnetic-fluid dampers were pretty much the bee’s knees of current suspension tech, but the wholly mechanical DSSV offers a couple of advantages. First, it’s lighter. Second, the spool valve’s ports can be fine-tuned to manage both big-hit impacts and longer-amplitude undulations. During development drives, GM engineers could sketch a graph of the vehicle-response curve they wanted to try, and within an hour Multimatic could machine new spools and put them to the test.

The 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 has no button that adjusts suspension settings. There is one setting, chosen by professionals, and you will shut up and like it. Hallelujah.

That default setting is stiff. In some cars, you can see the bumps but you don’t really feel them. The Camaro Z/28 is the opposite. En route to the track, Alabama’s pavement looks glassy smooth, but nervous jolts and jostles percolate up through the Recaros to inform you of everything that’s happening down there on the pavement, a mere 3.5 inches below the catalytic converters. Compared with an SS, the front springs are 85 percent stiffer and the rears are 65 percent stiffer. To cope with the Z/28’s 1.08-g cornering forces, bushings are all basically made of concrete—the rear upper-control-arm bushings are 400 percent stiffer.

With this bushel of information bouncing around in my skull, I don a helmet and ease out of pit lane to see how it all works at Barber. Earlier, Wise gave me a few acclimation laps in a Camaro 1LE, but he warned that the Camaro Z/28 would be a much different experience. “Give it at least a lap to warm up the tires,” Wise said. “When they’re cold they’ll spin through second and third gears.”

I gradually ramp up speed, moving through the Performance Traction Management system’s five intervention thresholds as I do. The LS7 V-8 isn’t as explosive here as it is in the much-lighter 2013 Z06, but it’s still got plenty of torque to upset the rear end if you treat the throttle like an on/off switch. Caroming around Barber, I can feel the PTM cutting in here and there, modulating torque to the Torsen rear differential. I’m learning where I’m too early with the throttle, without spinning into the wall in the process. This isn’t what you’d call a friendly car, but I appreciate that small gesture toward driver preservation.

Besides, there’s no shame in leaning on PTM. The 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 is the first car I can recall where the manufacturer flatly declares that its performance-enhancing electronics are better than the best driver. Even Ferrari leaves a little room for human flattery, insisting that a pro driver can beat Race mode by turning everything off. But Wise says that PTM Mode 5 is the quickest way around the track, period. It’s going to parcel out the absolute most power the tires can handle, every single time, lap after lap. Turn it off and you’ll go slower.

I can vouch that Mode 5 gives you a long leash. As I’m diving into a corkscrew with an inadvisable combination of trail braking and steering lock, the rear end starts coming around. (You know what you don’t get with 305-section front tires? Understeer.) While Mode 5 will prevent you from power-oversteering off the track, it appears that you’re on your own in off-throttle situations. The rear Pirellis scribe the signature of a trail-braking slide before I get it reined in and complete a chastened lap.

That experience sows enough self-doubt to neuter my attack of Barber’s blind uphill right-hander ahead of the timing tower. You can take this roller-coaster ascent at wide-open throttle, but you’ve got to have the car lined up perfectly before you crest the rise and the suspension unloads. I’m never that sure I’ve got it lined up.

For those who know their way around this track, the Z/28 offers two advantages at this particular spot. First, the aero package and its healthy downforce mean that at high speeds you actually have slightly better grip than you do in low-speed hairpins. Second, the suspension retains the ride-height sensors from the ZL1’s magnetic system, so the car knows when it’s launching airborne.

Why is that important? Because the ride-height sensors can enable “fly mode,” wherein the suspension tells the traction-management system, “It’s cool—you sense a loss of traction and want to cut power, but we’re just flying through the air, good buddy. Keep piling on the juice so we don’t slow down when we land.” I mean, you don’t want to dial back the power just because your car is no longer earthbound. That’s pretty rock ’n’ roll, Camaro.

Barber has a few constant-radius corners where I can push the limits of the Z/28’s cornering abilities, which are completely neck-straining, stomach-punishing, and happily neutral. But I never quite master the brakes. Every time I’m going white-knuckle into a corner, certain that this time I’ve overdone it, the Z/28 simply hangs me against the shoulder belt with those 1.5-g Brembos, and it turns out that I braked too early. Again. Coming off the faster straights, I’m usually ready for the next corner about 100 feet before the turn-in point. I’ve never driven a car with brakes like this, and my brain is just not calibrated. My lap times are about six seconds slower than the pros’, and I’ll wager that most of that is attributable to my inability to figure out when to brake in a car that seems to throw the universe in reverse.

Lucky for GM, I’ve got an easy solution: If the Z/28 had 600 or maybe 700 horses working on the straights, the braking points might be out where my brain says they should be. I’m sure nobody has yet mentioned this, but the Z/28 could probably handle a little more power.

This is a curious machine, the Z/28. Who’d have thought that GM would emerge as the world leader in chassis tuning? This ultimate Camaro is the latest statement to that effect, loudly proclaiming that the masters of road-course wizardry work out of Milford, Michigan. First we had the Cadillac CTS-V, then the Camaro ZL1, then the C7 Corvette. Now a Camaro will beat a Lamborghini Murciélago around the Nürburgring.

The Z/28 is uncompromising in ways that will severely limit its appeal. It’s also wonderful for all the same reasons. It’s like a homologation special for a racing series that doesn’t exist.

Hey, that gives me an idea. Who owns the rights to IROC these days?

2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28

On sale:

Now

Price:

$75,000

Powertrain

Engine:

16-valve OHV V-8

Displacement:

7.0 liters (428 cu in)

Power:

505 hp @ 6100 rpm

Torque:

481 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm

Transmission

6-speed manual

Drive:

Rear-wheel

Chassis

Steering:

Electrically assisted

Front suspension:

Strut-type, coil springs

Rear suspension:

Multilink, coil springs

Brakes:

Vented carbon-ceramic discs

Tires:

Pirelli PZero Trofeo R

Tire size:

305/30R-19 (102Y)

Measurements

L x W x H:

192.3 x 76.9 x 52.4 in

Wheelbase:

112.3 in

Track F/R:

66.1/64.7 in

Weight:

3820 lb

Est. Fuel Mileage:

15/22 mpg

Performance

0-60 mph:

4.0 sec

1/4-mile:

12.3 sec @ 117 mph

60-0 mph braking:

97 ft

For Those About To ’Roc, I Salute You

Ezra and the Camaro go way back. In fact, the very first article he ever wrote for Automobile Magazine was about his first car, a 1985 Camaro IROC-Z. We’re taking this opportunity to reprint it from the December 2001 issue.

My first car was a 1985 Camaro IROC Z/28. This is not the type of information you want to share among unfamiliar company, lest you care to lob the conversational serve that will be smashed back with the inevitable “IROC stands for Italian Retard Out Cruising” type of comment. Justified or not, the general public associates IROC ownership with a vast panoply of unsavory behavioral traits, from storing leftover SpaghettiOs in empty Cool Whip containers to passing out with a lip full of Skoal and waking up with tobacco juice in your mullet. I’d like to say that my IROC ownership was a defiant statement of disdain for societal snobbery, but the truth is that I was blissfully ignorant of the connotations of Camaro.

In fact, I probably only reinforced the IROC stereotype. My priorities at that stage of my life included determining exactly how far the 245/50VR-16 Gatorbacks would spin when the accelerator was floored from a standing start on a wet road (roughly a quarter mile, as the limited-slip differential had long since ceased to limit much slip). The transition from understeer to snap power oversteer was explored in the high-school parking lot, and substitution principles gleaned from algebra class were used to deduce that 4000 rpm in overdrive equated to . . . well, faster than Edwin Pierpont’s ’79 Camaro with the 400 small-block, which was really all that mattered. With the aid of an ancient Fuzzbuster that resembled a small microwave oven sitting atop the dash, I was able to reach these conclusions without ever receiving a traffic violation.

But despite my own fond memories, I am not immune to the influence of popular culture. These days, when I pull up next to an IROC in traffic, I find myself wondering how long the driver has been on parole. Well, that, and if he could beat a quarter-mile burnout in the rain.

MILFORD, Michigan – Chevrolet made sure the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 had balance, handling, and brakes before the name went on. That’s what the first-generation Z/28 was; an American performance car that put handling before straight-line performance. Chevy says the new car goes around turns better than its own ZL1 -- or the Ford Shelby GT500 -- and thus is faster around a road racing track despite delivering a meager 505 horsepower.

The Bowtie Brigade says that the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 compares best with the Boss 302 Laguna Seca among Mustangs, but even more so with the Porsche 911 GT3 and the Nissan GT-R. On Tuesday, Chevrolet published the 2014 Camaro Z/28’s Nürburgring lap time of 7:37.40, which was completed in light rain. That’s four seconds faster than a Camaro ZL1 and, Chevy says, better than published times for the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Lamborghini Murciélago.

Although a “gentlemen’s agreement” among automakers prevents Chevy from making it official, the company believes it can post a time as low as 7:31.9 when it returns to Germany in search of a dry ’Ring.

As with the early models, this is what the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 is all about. It’s a relatively lightweight track car -- at 3837 pounds, it’s about 80 to 100 pounds less than a 1LE -- that you can drive to and from the circuit, but not too often if you want to preserve the 305/30ZR-19 Pirelli Trofeo R tires. Air conditioning and stereo speakers will be optional on the Z/28, which will retail for more than the ZL1 when it goes on sale late in the first quarter of 2014, so probably in the $57,000-to-$60,000 range.

Avoiding air conditioning saves 28.4 pounds. Other “light-weighting” includes the 19-inch wheel and tire package; the tires have smaller outer-diameter tires to minimize oversteer. Fifteen-inch Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes cut another 21.2 pounds, and Chevy has removed the tire-inflator kit (except for Rhode Island and New Hampshire to meet state requirements) and has removed the trunklid trim. Headlamps and taillamps are from the V-6 version of the facelifted 2014 Camaro, also to save weight.

Camaro design chief Tom Peters notes that the 2014 facelift helps Chevy set up the Z/28 better for racing, with its thinner upper front grille and larger lower fascia air intake. The plastic rear bumper and lower rear fascia are wider than before, which works in harmony with the Z/28’s wider wheels and tires and corresponding wheel-opening flares.

That’s no 302 cubic-inch V-8 under the hood, but instead the C6 Z06’s naturally aspirated LS7 engine, rated 505 horsepower and 481 pound-feet per SAE. It’s the small block with the historically big-block number on the valve covers, 427, as in cubic inches (its displacement actually rounds up to 428). It’s likely that the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 serves as a build-out for the LS7, though for this car there are unique parts, including Pankl titanium connecting rods, Mahle pistons, and a unique intake with K&N cold-air induction and exhaust headers. It will be assembled in GM’s high-performance build center, recently moved from Wixom, Michigan, to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Chevrolet claims the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28’s Torsen Helical Limited Slip differential cuts 0.7 second off the car’s Lutzring time. A prominent front splitter, the black rear spoiler, hood vents, rockers, and Gurney lip flares create 440 pounds more downforce than the Camaro SS. Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve, a damper technology supplied by Multimatic of Ontario, gives much more precise suspension damping than shim dampers by directing the suspension fluid through a hole in the damper mechanism. Multimatic also supplies the technology to Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing and has supplied it to just one other road car, the Aston Martin One-77.

In case you haven’t noticed, Chevy engineers have pulled out all the stops for the Z/28. Handling and the very powerful brakes, designed to give consistent pedal feel with no fade even on the track, combine to make it quicker around a road course than more powerful competition.

Chevy demonstrated this by giving us rides, not drives, around the Lutzring, and the truth is that we never could have matched the speeds of the three GM test drivers, who accelerated deep, deep, DEEP into Turn One. The car feels far more balanced, at least from the front passenger seat (yes, there is a back seat) than any Camaro preceding it. On a few of the turns, we could feel the rear tires give up a slight bit of oversteer in order to direct the car down the road. Chevy claims 1.08 g of maximum lateral acceleration. Beyond Turn One, the test driver’s braking came so hard and so late that it almost felt like driver error, though clearly it was simply a testament to the car’s sporting abilities.

Who will buy the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28? Chevy expects 3000 to 4000 customers over two model years, which hints that the all-new Alpha-platform Chevy Camaro is set for the 2016 model year, although there could be an overlap such as we’ve seen with the new Cadillac CTS with the old CTS-V. A few early VINs will surely go straight to bubble-wrap, while rich guys and women with enough weekend time to go to private tracks will buy the most track-capable Chevrolet until a Z06 replacement comes along, and a handful of misguided buyers will drive them on the street until the heat, the tires, or their dental fillings do them in.

New For 2014

The Z/28 model is a new addition to the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro lineup. Pricing has yet to be announced but is expected to be a bit higher than the $56,000 price tag of the ZL1. All other 2014 Chevrolet Camaro models gain new front and rear styling, save for the ZL1, which keeps its old nose.

Vehicle Summary

Shortly after General Motors discontinued the fourth-generation F-body in 2002, Camaro loyalists cried out in protest. The noise was loud enough to prompt GM to investigate a retro-styled fifth-generation model. After showing a coupe concept in 2006 and a convertible concept in 2007, a production version finally rolled into showrooms for the 2010 model year. Initially only a 3.6-liter V-6 and a 6.2-liter V-8 were offered, but the addition of the ZL1 for 2012 also brought a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 to square off against the Ford Shelby GT500.

Overview

Just how many variants of the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro does the world need? In addition to the base six-cylinder Camaro and the V-8-powered Camaro SS, we also have the supercharged Camaro ZL1 and convertible variants for all three models. Factor in the Camaro SS 1LE package and the drag-only COPO, and that total grows to eight.

But wait: there's now one more. The big news for 2014 is the revival of the Camaro Z/28 nameplate for the first time in twelve years. The new Z/28 isn't exactly a homologation special like the original, but it is designed with severe track duty in mind. Power comes from the C6 Corvette Z06's 7.0-liter V-8, which serves up more than 500 hp. A close-ratio six-speed manual transmission is the only gearbox offered on the Z/28. It's a little strange to see Chevy build a track car by gutting air-conditioning and audio-system components while retaining the rear seat. Still, for Camaro junkies wishing for something to counter the 2011-2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302, this might be the ultimate fifth-gen Camaro.

Revisions elsewhere across the Camaro lineup are limited mostly to a cosmetic exterior refresh. Up front, the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro's grille is narrower and more tapered than before. Out back, new rectangular taillamp assemblies actually wrap around the corners of the fascia. The 2014 Camaro ZL1 is the lone exception to this makeover: as Chevy didn't want to rework the car's aerodynamics and cooling packaging for the supercharged V-8 (and its important intercooler), 2014 ZL1s gain only the new rear styling while their noses remain unchanged.

The Camaro drives pretty well -- and handles incredibly in ZL1 and SS 1LE guises -- but it still stuffers from a funky cabin design and poor rearward visibility. Coupes offer decent trunk space, but a small, oddly shaped opening severely limits its use. The Ford Mustang -- especially the new 2015 Mustang due in mid-2014 -- probably gives the Camaro the biggest run for its money, but no matter: although muscle-car fans love to argue over bragging rights, cars in this segment usually aren't sold on objectivity, and few die-hard Camaro fans will even fathom the idea of switching to a Ford.

After days of rigorous testing on closed public roads and at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, our friends at Motor Trend have crowned the winner of their 2014 Best Driver's Car Competition, Powered by Mobil 1. The annual award recognizes cars that thrill drivers, excel on track, and satisfy the enthusiasts at Motor Trend. This year, editors voted the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 as the Best Driver's Car.

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Recalls

General Motors (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013 and 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Coupes manufactured June 9, 2013, through September 6, 2013. In the affected vehicles, the required air bag warning label on the sun visor may peel off. Thus, these vehicles fail to comply to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 "Occupant Crash Protection."

Consequences

If the air bag warning label detaches from the visor, the driver and front seat passenger may not be warned of the risks of air bag deployment, increasing the risk of injury in the event of a crash.

Remedy

GM will notify owners, and instruct owners how to inspect the visor sticker. As necessary, dealers will replace the sun visor, free of charge. The recall began on October 28, 2013. Owners may contact GM at 1-800-521-7300. GM's recall campaign number is 13284.

Potential Units Affected

18,941

Notes

General Motors LLC

Recall Date

12-31-1969:21:35:40

Component

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION

Summary

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling all 2010-2014 Chevrolet Camaro vehicles manufactured December 3, 2008 to May 23, 2014. In the affected vehicles, the driver may accidentally hit the ignition key with their knee, unintentionally knocking the key out of the run position, turning off the engine.

Consequences

If the key is not in the run position, the air bags may not deploy if the vehicle is involved in a crash, increasing the risk of injury. Additionally, a key knocked out of the run position could cause loss of engine power, power steering, and power braking, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Remedy

GM will notify owners, and dealers will remove the key blade from the original flip key/RKE transmitter assemblies, and provide two new keys and two key rings per key. The recall began August 25, 2014. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14294. Note: Until the recall has been performed, it is very important that drivers adjust their seat and steering column to allow clearance between their knee and the ignition key.

If any of the components separate, the vehicle may have a loss of steering, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy

GM began to notify owners on June 27, 2014, and dealers will inspect the fasteners for correct torque, correcting them as necessary, free of charge. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-521-7300 (Buick), 1-800-458-8006 (Cadillac) or 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet). GM's number for this recall is 14378.